Mold cooling system for typographical casting machines



July 17, 1951 J. H. HILPMAN MOLD COOLING SYSTEM FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL CASTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-$heet 1 Filed Feb 4, 194

w w W hg INVENTOR F' gr/M 7,

ATTORNE Y5 J. H. HILPMAN July 17, 1951 MOLD COOLING SYSTEM FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL CASTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4. 1948 Patented July 17, 1951 MOLD COOLING SYSTEM FOR TYPO- GRAPHICAL CASTING MACHINES John H. .Hilpman, Springfield, N. Y., assigno'r t'o Mergentha-ler Linotype fiompany, a corporation of New York Application February 4, 1948, Serial No. 6,186

2 Claims.

This invention relates to typographical" casting machines of the general organization represented in U. S. Letters Patent to O. Mergenthaler, No. 436,532, wherein a type 'bar or slug is cast in a slotted mold against a composed line of matrices and then forced out of the mold into a galley by an ejector which advances against the rear edge of the slug.

As is well known, the mold is carried by a wheel or disk which is rotatably mounted on a foreand-aft supporting slide. During each machine cycle, the mold disk is rotated in two stages, first, through a one-quarter rotation to carry the mold from ejecting to casting position and, next,

through the remaining three-quarter rotation to I carry the mold from casting back to ejecting position. During the rotation of the mold disk, the supporting slide occupies a rearward position, but during the casting and ejecting operations, the supporting slide occupies a forward position in order, in the first instance, to press the mold tightly up against the composed line and, in the next instance, to position the mold in proximity to the slug trimming knives. The

mold disk supporting slide is thus moved forwardly and backwardly in the machine twice during each machine cycle.

In addition to such forward and backward movements of the mold disk supporting slide, it is also mounted in the machine for a forward movement by hand beyond its normal operating position, this to facilitate the repair or cleaning of the casting parts, such as the mold itself, or the mold disk, or the pot mouth, or the back trimming knives, etc. This forward and manual movement of the supporting slide is effected when the machine is at rest and after the slide has been disconnected from the main driving shaft of the machine.

In recent years, it has been common practice to equip the machine with a mold cooling system of movement of the supporting slide under such normal conditions is comparatively small and the use of a flexible supply hose will take care of it.

However, when it becomes necessary to pull the slide forwardly by hand beyond its normal operating position '(for the cleaning or repair of the casting parts), the operator or machinist has had to disconnect the flexible supply hose from the air discharge nozzle; and, of course, when the slide is later restored to it's normal operating position, the operator or machinist has had again to reconnect the hose and nozzle. Such hose disconnecting and hose reconnecting operations are both troublesome and time consuming and slow up the important work of composition.

To overcome the foregoing objections and in accordance with the present invention, the air discharge nozzle is provided with a hose connecting extension mounted on a stationary part of the machine and which is formed to break and make connection automatically with the nozzle as the mold slide is moved forwardly by handboyond its normal operating position and later restored to that position, respectively. This is accomplished by providing for a sliding fit between the nozzle and its extension to permit them to be moved into and out of mating relation under the conditions stated. However, such sliding fit accomplishes more than that: It also serves to 7 maintain connection between the supply hose and the discharge nozzle in all positions of the latter during the forward and backward movements of the mold disk supporting slide while in normal operating position. As a further feature in the latter connection, it may be noted that the bore .of the air discharge nozzle is greater than that of the hose connecting extension, whereby the full amount of air will pass to the nozzle in all positions of the latter during the normal operation' of the supporting slide.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the mold disk and its supporting slide with the air discharge nozzle attached, certain portions of the nozzle being broken away to expose the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 22 Of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. l, with certain parts of the nozzle broken away to reveal details of construction, and indicating by the dotted lines different positions of the mold disk supporting slide under the condi tions above stated.

A mold disk A, equipped with one or more molds is mounted for rotation upon an arm 13 projecting laterally from a supporting slide B, which latter is mounted to be reciprocated forwardly and backwardly in the fixed machine frame. The disk A is intermittently rotated in a clockwise di- 3 rection during each machine cycle, first, by a onequarter rotation to present the mold in use (the one shown in vertical position in Fig. 1) to a horizontal casting position and, next, by a threequarter rotation to carry the mold back to its original or vertical ejecting position. The sup porting slide B is reciprocated twice during each machine cycle, once to carry the active mold into and out of engagement with a composed line of matrices (not shown) before and after casting of a type bar or slug, and again to carry the mold into and out of close proximity to a pair of trimming knives (not shown) before and after the ejection of the cast type bar or slug. The extent of such reciprocation is indicated by the dotted lines X in Fig. 3. The ejection of the slug is effected by a series of ejector blades C carried by the supporting slide B and held in place therein by a keeper plate C When it becomes necessary to gain access to the casting parts for cleaning or repair, the supporting slide B is disconnected from its operating mechanism and then pulled forward by hand to the dotted line position indicated at Y in Fig. 3. As will be noted, the extent of such forward movement is quite considerable and much greater than that imparted to the slide during each machine cycle. After the work of cleaning or repair has been completed, the slide is pushed back to its normal operating position and reconnected with its operating mechanism.

The foregoing parts and their mode of operation are or may be the same .as embodied in the commercial Linotype machines.

In the present instance, the machine is equipped with a mold cooling system of the type disclosed in the aforementioned Bramblett Patent 2,170,005 and which comprises an air discharge nozzle D and a flexible supply hose D leading thereto from a power-driven fan or blower (not shown). The details of construction of the nozzle and the manner in which it functions to cool the mold are fully set forth in the Bramblett patent and any further description here would be superfluous.

As in the Bramblett patent, the air discharge nozzle D is attached to the mold disk supporting slide B, as at D so as to be movable with the slide both during its normal reciprocatory movements as well as when it is pulled forward by hand beyond its normal operating position. However, instead of being connected directly to the flexible supply hose D as in the Bramblett patent, the nozzle D, according to the present invention, is provided with a hose connecting extension D mounted on a stationary part of the machine. In the drawings, and by way of example, the stationary part shown is the so-called starting and stopping lever bracket E to which the extension is fixed by a bolt or other suitable fastening device E The nozzle D and its extension D are formed to make a sliding fit with each other in a fore-and-aft direction, which is the direction of movement of the slide B. Thus, at its lower end, the nozzle D is formed with an annular collar d having a wide fiat seat, and at its upper end the extension D is formed with a similar annular collar (1 having a wide flat seat to match. While the two seats could be made to contact directly with each other, it is preferred to interpose between them a packing or gasket (1 which will guard against air leakage. In practice, the packing is made of felt and is cemented in place upon the seat of the collar d formed on the nozzle extension.

It will now be seen that when the mold disk supporting slide B is reciprocated back and forth during each machine cycle, the air discharge nozzle D will be moved with it, as required, but that the nozzle extension D will remain at rest, the sliding air-tight fit between the parts permitting of such relative movement. The extent of movement of the slide B under such normal operating conditions, as indicated by the dotted lines X in Fig. 3, is too small to disturb the connection between the nozzle D and its extension D In this connection, it is pointed out that the bore (1 of the nozzle D is made larger than the bore (1 of the extension D (see Figs. 2 and 3), so that the full amount of air will pass through the nozzle in all positions thereof during its normal reciprocations.

It will also be seen that when the slide B is pulled forward by hand beyond its normal operating position, as indicated by the dotted lines Y in Fig. 3, the air discharge nozzle will be carried along with it and on this occasion will break its connection entirely with the extension D Such breaking of the connection between the parts, however, is entirely automatic and will require no attention on the part of the operator or machinist, who previously was obliged to disconnect the supply hose from the nozzle before the supporting slide could be pulled forward. When the supporting slide is later restored to its normal operating position, the nozzle D will automatically re-establish its connection with the extension D The sliding fit between the nozzle D and its extension D is favored by the very accurate mounting of the mold disk supporting slide B in the machine and hence no interference between the nozzle and its extension can take place in their relative movements.

In the accompanying drawings, the invention has been shown merely in preferred form and by way of example and obviously many modifications and alterations will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any particular form or embodiment except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A typographical casting machine equipped with a rotatable mold disk and a supporting slide therefor movable forwardly and backwardly to a limited extent during each machine cycle, said slide when the machine is at rest being movable forwardly beyond its normal operating position to facilitate the cleaning or repair of the casting parts, as well as with a mold cooling system comprising an air discharge nozzle mounted on the supporting slide so as to be movable therewith, and an air supply hose leading to the nozzle, characterized in that the air discharge nozzle is provided with a hose connecting extension mounted on a stationary part of the machine and which therefore remains at rest during the movements of the mold slide, and in that said nozzle and extension are formed at their meeting ends with opposed flat joint seats slidably fitted together and extending in the direction of movement of the mold slide, said joint seats being wide enough to maintain an operative air-tight connection between the discharge nozzle and the hose extension in all operative positions of the mold disk, and said joint seats being free to slide out of mating relation to each other to permit the discharge nozzle to break connection automatically with the hose extension when the mold slide is moved forward beyond its normal operating position, and said joint seats also being free to slide back into mating relation to each other to permit the discharge nozzle to re-make connection automatically with the hose extension when the mold slide is returned to its normal operating position.

2. A typographical casting machine according to claim 1, wherein the bore of the air discharge nozzle is larger than that of the hose connecting extension, whereby the full amount of air will pass to the nozzle in all operative positions of the mold slide.

JOHN H. HILPMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

